Saturday, May 31, 2014

Am a bit shaky but
at some point I have to start getting back to normal life. This is my attempt.
Sorry that I don’t have an adventure to take you on, but I will see what I can
find in my photo archives and at least share something with you there.

I would love to
hear from some of you, find out how it’s been without LucysBuzz to keep you company. Or am I being delusional?

I’m going to post
some pictures of Lipton’s TV personality friend, Samudra. Ones that he took of
her for a recent photo shoot. He really knows how to bring out the gorgeous
look of people, male or female.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Sitting at the computer for the first time in over two weeks is giving me the cold sweats.

All my body wants to do is lie down and rest. First off there was the appendix operation, then the nasty, nasty viral flu, which turned into bronchitis. Who knew the body could survive such an onslaught of illness?

I must say, many thanks to Lipton’s mother who came to take care of us both; cooking for us,
cleaning, feeding Toby. She’s a godsend. I wish we could keep her here with us.

Lipton has turned one of our wonderful wedding trailers into something that I can post for you
all to enjoy instead of me whinging about how sick we’ve been.

Friday, May 16, 2014

14th of
May is Vesak, full moon Poya day in Sri Lanka. According to Wikipedia, Vesak is
‘sometimes informally called Buddha’s Birthday.’ It is a celebration that
includes lighted lanterns made of all sizes, from hanging small ones, to giant
standing lanterns, most handmade. It is a very big deal here in Sri Lanka.

One Vesak, Lipton's brother-in-law, made the largest Vesak lantern in his village. He won first prize for his weeks of work!

There was a small
rain as I struck out with my tuk tuk driver to see the lights yesterday. We began at
4:30PM, which was way too early, so I wandered around the Gangarama Temple area
and took photos in the evening light, waiting for the man-made lights to come on. Most
displays of the Vesak lanterns are covered in plastic to that the public can’t
see them until the auspicious time. I heard that the time was 6:30PM and then
that was amended to 7PM. Lots of wandering.

Finally at 6:15PM
on the dot, a parade began with drummers and dancers and people carrying gifts
for the Buddha. I was in the street taking photos, while the crowd was held
back by the multitude of police. I’m not sure why they let me get such a close
view of the parade, but it goes to show the politeness of the Sri Lankan people. Perhaps it
was because of my big camera that made me look somehow important. There were
other photographers there also, but they were from the Navy. So, I got a crowd-free
view! No complaints!

My tuk tuk was
parked in a great spot, right by Beriya Lake, just across the street and down
the road from Gangarama Temple. Except it was right under a loud speaker and
the sound of the monk giving his message to the people went right through our
ears like a screaming F16! So I kept wandering and waiting. The message seemed
to go on forever and not understanding what the monk was saying, I had no clue
as to when he was going to finish. So, I suggested we leave. I’d had enough of
waiting.

As soon as we were
in traffic, 5 minutes away, the booming of fireworks went off! And all the
lights went on as well. I had missed it with my impatience. But I was happy
enough with the photos that I got and besides, it was dark and I had a 50mm
lens that captures low-light photos, but I wasn't sure it would capture ones in
complete darkness.

So, we made our way
back to Mount Lavinia and caught lights along the way. I told Ranga, my tuk tuk
driver, that I really wanted to see a Torana, a super large lighted story of
Buddha’s life. We stopped at two Toranas, but the lights weren’t on yet. Ranga said
there was one on the main road to my house, and sure enough the lights were on
and the crowd was small. Again I got a crowd-free shot! I was happy!